Original Text
In the western outskirts of Yidu, there lived a wealthy man from a distinguished family, exceedingly rich with vast sums of money. He kept a concubine, who was born with a delicate and lovely appearance. However, his principal wife subjected the concubine to every form of abuse and torment, flogging her mercilessly, yet the concubine served her with utmost respect. The wealthy man pitied the concubine and often privately offered her kind words of comfort, but she never uttered a single complaint. One night, several dozen bandits climbed over the wall and nearly battered down the door. The wealthy man and his principal wife were struck with terror, their souls fleeing and their spirits scattered, trembling uncontrollably, at a loss for what to do. At this moment, the concubine rose up with resolve, silently groping in the darkness of the room until she found a carrying pole for water buckets. She then drew the door bolt and dashed out abruptly. The bandits were thrown into utter chaos, like tangled hemp. The concubine wielded the pole, its wind whistling and its iron hooks clanging, striking down four or five men, until the bandits' fighting spirit was utterly crushed, and they fled in panic and astonishment. In their haste, they could not scramble back over the wall, falling down with agonized cries, as if their souls had fled and their lives were forfeit. The concubine planted the pole on the ground, surveyed them with a smile, and said, "Such creatures are not worth my personal effort to strike; how dare they come to play at being bandits! I will not kill you, for killing you would only defile me." She then let them all escape. The wealthy man, greatly astonished, asked, "How do you possess such skill?" It turned out that the concubine's father was a master of staff and spear techniques, and she had fully inherited his abilities, such that a hundred men were no match for her. The principal wife was especially terrified, regretting that she had been deceived by outward appearances, and from then on treated the concubine with kindness, while the concubine never once showed any lapse in propriety. Some neighboring women said to the concubine, "You beat bandits like pigs and dogs, yet why do you meekly submit to being whipped and beaten?" The concubine replied, "This is my ordained station in life; how dare I speak otherwise?" Hearing this, people praised her virtue all the more.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: A concubine possessed extraordinary skills, yet for years no one knew of them, until at last, after repelling calamity, she transformed the fierce jealousy of the principal wife into kindness. Alas! When Master Jia shot the pheasant, his wife finally smiled; when Xue Wanche won the wager over the sword, Princess Danyang rode home with him in the same carriage. Thus it is evident that skills must never be cast aside!
Commentary
This narrative tells of a concubine possessing extraordinary skills and martial prowess surpassing all others, who willingly endured the abuse of the principal wife and contentedly accepted her subordinate status. Pu Songling forcefully depicts the contrast between her remarkable abilities and her mindset of acquiescing to humiliation and degradation.
Wang Yuyang, a contemporary of Pu Songling, recorded the same story in his "Chibei Outan: Tan Yi Qi," likely plagiarizing from Pu Songling, retitling it "The Virtuous Concubine." Comparing the two, while both affirm the concubine's dutiful and contented nature in terms of character values, "The Virtuous Concubine" carries a stronger ethical tone, whereas "The Concubine Strikes the Bandits" focuses more on the concubine's exceptional martial prowess, with a clear undertone of redressing grievances. If one compares the description of striking the bandits in "The Virtuous Concubine"—"The concubine, in the dark, took a staff, opened the door, and went straight out, striking the bandits, felling several, while the rest fled in panic"—with the corresponding depiction in "The Concubine Strikes the Bandits," the latter's vivid and lively narrative description is something "The Virtuous Concubine" can never hope to match!